1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to systems and methods for visually representing electronic documents.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic document is a file created by a software application. In addition to text, an electronic document can include graphics, charts, or other objects. Since electronic documents are not physical entities, they may remain in existence for as long as the computer system in which they have been saved remains active.
The extended lifetime of these documents engenders version-control problems in organizations utilizing digital document technology. For example, time-dependent documents, such as draft proposals for contracts, are frequency created in digital form. These draft documents may then be erroneously circulated as final contracts or final versions, despite the existence of more recent versions.
Several methods for the management of electronic document versions are currently in use. The document itself may be marked as “Draft” or “Concept” using standard text or watermarks. Alternatively, a document management system, such as DocuShare™ or Outlook™, may be configured to automatically delete electronic documents after a given time.